“Do consumers want to design unique products on the internet? A ...

Delbridge and Kirkpatrick (1994:37) suggest that participant observation involves the
researcher immersing themselves in the research setting, <strong>to</strong> sharing in the subject’s lives.
It is felt that this method was applicable as the aim of the research was <strong>to</strong> share in the
community’s lives and understand how the community members interact and what
encourages users <strong>to</strong> share, critique and collaborate.
Participant Observation in this unobtrusive manner does raise a question of ethics
(Paccagnella 1997). In this case all the data analysed is public discourse. The view taken
by this researcher is that while the communication may be deeply personal it is not
private (Sudweeks & Rafaeli 1995). To respect the privacy of the community members
no names of community members or links back <strong>to</strong> the text were recorded. Only
communication deemed relevant <strong>to</strong> this research was viewed & categorized. Observation
was preferred over active participation <strong>to</strong> reduce the likelihood that the presence of a
researcher may modify the phenomena being studied (Paccagnella 1997). A mixture of
quantitative & qualitative analysis was adopted. A purely quantitative approach might
have missed the subtle nuances of interaction that can meaningfully describe the
interactions of a community (Thomsen et al 1998). All <strong>to</strong>pics were viewed & classified,
those relevant <strong>to</strong> the study (related <strong>to</strong> submissions or the process of <strong>design</strong>ing) also had
their responses classified on a similar scale.
Adam Fletcher – Do <strong>consumers</strong> <strong>want</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>design</strong> <strong>unique</strong> product on the internet.
2006
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